


A Peaceful Life

by Nebulad



Series: Achilles Reborn [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Gen, Shadow of Legacy, Shadow of Legacy spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 02:14:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17479298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulad/pseuds/Nebulad
Summary: The Tempest laughed now, although it wheezed. “Iknowwhat I am. Amorges gave me direction and purpose— I am the Tempest.”“You,”Alexios said from Kassandra’s shoulder, “are likeme.”





	A Peaceful Life

Kassandra didn’t realize that her brother was following her until it was too late to turn back. The Tempest had already noticed them, so even though she could hear his haggard breath and feel panic clamp down on her stomach, she merely settled for aggressively putting herself between Alexios and the woman in front of them.

They stared at each other, the three of them, without saying anything. The only sound was the quiet shushing of the rain on the sand and the infuriated gasping breaths the Tempest sucked in; being defeated at sea didn’t suit her, it would seem.

Despite her failure to notice Alexios, she did hold her arm out to stop Kleta before she could throw herself at her daughter’s feet. “Be careful,” she cautioned firmly.

“Be careful? She’s my  _ daughter, misthios. _ ” She said it so confidently, as if their biological ties would stop the Tempest from jamming a sword into her mother’s guts. Still, even Kassandra had a bit more tact than that— she refrained from saying as much.

“She has guards. We need to talk, before this goes any further.” The last bit she shouted, to be heard over the weather.

“About  _ what,  _ Eagle-Bearer? Amorges told me all about your kind; it isn’t personal, but you are fated to die like the—  _ mater?” _ Kassandra wondered if maybe the Tempest was more injured than she was trying to let on; it only just seemed to occur to her that Kleta was standing there. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to— there are so many things, Phila, so many things I have to say,  _ please—” _

“You had your chance to say them,  _ mater— years,  _ but then I was drowning and who pulled me out? You?” She didn’t laugh, although it sounded like something that would have warranted a scornful laugh if she really meant it. “The Order is my family.  _ You  _ are my past.”

“You cannot  _ be  _ one of them, Phila— you’re a Tainted One too.” Kleta almost choked saying so, and a distant part of Kassandra wondered what exactly the hell that  _ really  _ meant. Pythagoras had tried to explain, before she’d killed him; she’d resolved to live her life as Kassandra, whose real father had thrown her and her brother from the mountain. She had no obligation to the legacy of a man she hardly knew; and yet, whatever he and Myrinne had passed on to her seemed to keep coming up.

The Tempest laughed now, although it wheezed. “I  _ know  _ what I am. Amorges gave me direction and purpose— I am the  _ Tempest. _ ” 

_ “You,”  _ Alexios said from Kassandra’s shoulder, “are like me.” He stepped out from behind her and resisted her frantically trying to shove him back in place.  _ “You  _ were no one, until someone thought to use you for your power until it’s time to discard you.”

“What the hell do you know?” she snarled, prepping a battle stance although her arm was folded protectively against her torso.

“Kosmos,” he said, folding his arms to show her that he didn’t intend to fight. “Deimos. Your  _ family  _ in the Order claims that you belong with them, but you don’t  _ feel  _ it do you? You don’t feel it until you kill the right person, destroy the right ship, hunt the right target—  _ only  _ then do they tell you that  _ they  _ are where you belong.”

The Tempest’s jaw simultaneously clenched and wavered. “I have  _ purpose—” _

“That  _ they  _ set out for you, day by day. You have no friends, you enjoy nothing, food is tasteless and  _ you  _ are alone until they decide you’re not.”

_ “I  _ am the one that controls my fate!” she shouted, and Alexios gestured Kass back before she even realized she was moving.

“You are, until what you want conflicts with what they want. Then they tell you that you never really wanted it at all,” he said, his voice disturbingly loud against the pouring rain.

_ “Shut up,”  _ she shouted, lifting a nearby stone to throw it at him. It missed its mark and she turned her back before she could see it happen.

Kleta stepped forward, more cautiously but  _ still.  _ “Please, Phila,” she begged hoarsely. “Let’s just talk, just you and me. Forget everything here and come home with us.” She started to step forward, and Kassandra felt the same adrenaline she had on Mount Taygetos.

“Slowly, Kleta,” she warned, and the woman obeyed. Slowly, she made her way up to Alexios and passed him by. His fist was clenched at his side as she approached the Tempest, who was trembling from head to foot now. Kassandra now followed, only as far as her brother had moved to stop, grab his hand, and  _ squeeze.  _ He squeezed back, his whole body tense to the point of pain.

_ “Mater,”  _ the Tempest, Phila began. She reached out and her guard thought better of it— he sprang forward and cut Kleta down with a grunt of satisfaction.

The next hour passed in a blur. The Tempest swung out, too fast for either of her guards to dodge, and killed them before they even really knew they were in danger. She fell to her knees by Kleta’s body,  _ mater please I have to say things to you too, please please please,  _ and then clung tightly to Kleta’s limp hand until Kassandra almost thought it would be safe to approach.

It wasn’t.

“She shouldn’t have been here,” Kleta’s grunted, her breath coming faster now. “If you two had just fucking died at sea, she  _ wouldn’t  _ have been here.  _ This,”  _ her voice raised to a scream,  _ “is your fucking faults!” _

Kassandra could admit that even with Alexios at her side, fighting another “Tainted” One was far more difficult than any other battle she’d been in; besides, of course, Alexios himself. It was ultimately difficult to physically fight someone you didn’t want to hurt, but almost as bad to fight someone who wanted to hurt you worse than anything else in the world,  _ and  _ could.

In the end, it was still two people who knew each other well against one person who didn’t want to live through the fight. Phila collapsed next to Kleta, reaching for her hand and squeezing it before the light left her body altogether. Alexios glowered down at the both of them with his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles were white; Kassandra moved over to him and leaned on his shoulder.

“It’s over now,” she said faintly. He nodded, but didn’t say anything; the only sound was the shushing of the rain.

. . . . .

That’s how Darius had found them, no doubt having watched the exchange from somewhere secret. Normally Kass would’ve expected her brother to snap at the old man that he might’ve helped, but it would seem they knew Darius too well by now; he didn’t approve of their aggressive diplomacy, and neither of them were interested in sneaking around for some sort of tactical advantage. Kassandra didn’t hate the old man, but he was never going to see her or Alexios as his peers.

“Back to Dyme,” he suggested. “I’ll find somewhere safe to put the bodies.”

They started back for the house where their family was staying, separated from the village with a height advantage should anyone get any ideas about this whole bloodline thing. Kassandra doubted they would believe that only half of them were actually  _ tainted,  _ and two were just respected generals and the other a little kid.

Nikolaos greeted them at the door, patting Alexios’ back as he passed. “I take it Phila was unwilling to compromise?” he asked in his rough-worn voice, following them inside.

“Lexi did a good job, but one of Phila’s guards killed Kleta and it spiralled,” Kassandra reported. From the fireplace, Phoibe watched them with wide eyes; no doubt the little brat had seen the whole thing, despite a stern warning to stay where she was when they left.

“Poor girl,” Myrinne hummed, sharpening her spear nearby. “Is Darius with you?”

“He was,” she said, tossing Alexios a skin of water as he sat down heavily on one of the beds and glared forward. “He stayed behind to clean up, then I think he’ll go find Natakas.” She took her own seat at the table beside Stentor, who gruffy slid a bowl of goat stew over towards her.

“How did you do it?” Alexios asked suddenly, his voice jarringly loud again. Myrinne paused her sharpening for a moment, then carefully continued.

“Do what, my lamb?”

“Stop me. Kleta couldn’t do it— we shouldn’t have let her anywhere near the Tempest, but I thought…” He looked down at his feet, glaring a hole in the floor. “I thought it would help, like it did on the mountain. All it did was get her killed, so why could you do it and not her?”

Nikolaos sat beside Kassandra as Myrinne stood and made her way over to sit with her son. Alexios leaned on her shoulder, shutting his eyes as if that would stop his face from turning a blotchy sort of red. “Your sister said one of Phila’s guards killed Kleta.”

“They did,” he grunted.

“Then Phila had nothing to do with that, and neither did you. You were alone on the mountain, and your sister and I could speak to your heart. This girl had no such luck; if she were alone, maybe Kleta moving forward would have helped.”

“Is it our fault?” he asked, and Kass compulsively leaned over to rest on her father. She was too old to do so, surely, but still he put his hand on her shoulder. She couldn’t help herself— she’d thought as much too. Her and Alexios had been of the same mind on that beach, and Kleta dying had been a slap in the face. If they’d made her stand back… maybe she would have lived.

“Keeping her mother from her would have only made Phila angry— treating a person like they’re a monster is never the way to bring them back from the brink. Killing her guards would have made her attack you, and trying to get her to order her guards away would have made her suspicious. You could only do what you thought was right; I don’t think there was a better way, lamb.” Myrrine threaded her fingers through his hair and he took a loud, even breath through his nose and out again.

“I wanted to help her,” he admitted.

“You did,” Phoibe answered from her spot, and the family turned to look at her. “I mean, it  _ sounds  _ like… maybe she wanted to forgive her  _ mater.  _ She got to do that before she died.”

“Great babysitting job, Stentor,” Kassandra said with a laugh, nudging his knee under the table.

_ “You  _ try keeping an eye on her and see how easily she disappears,” he grunted back. He didn’t have to defend himself— Kass knew better than all of them that if Phoibe wanted to be somewhere, she would find a way.

Alexios snorted, and opened his eyes. “How long do you think we have until the Order comes back?” he asked, and Kassandra made a face just thinking about it.

“Who knows? I don’t understand what Persians specifically have against this family, but it’s getting old.” With that she turned to her stew, suddenly starving without the deaths of Kleta and Phila at the forefront of her mind. She had to get down what she could before Alexios decided he was hungry too— there wasn’t enough food in Greece for the both of them.

“What are a few Persians so long as we’re together?” Myrinne asked wryly, knowing better than anyone what the very powerful country could do with only a limited amount of Spartans to stand against them.

“How many cults do we have to go through before the world runs out?” Alexios asked, seeming more than happy to just sit with his mother a while.

“You’re Spartans,” Nikolaos said firmly. “They’ll run out long before you do.”

_ They won’t,  _ Kassandra thought darkly, but didn’t look up from her food.

**Author's Note:**

> This is [the game](https://nebulous.itch.io/manor-hill) I'm making and this is [my blog](https://nebulaad.tumblr.com). 
> 
> I ain't even gunna ironically pretend that I'm transcribing word for word what actually happened. Hey Ubisoft I fixed your fucking garbage. I already had a son and his name is Alexios and I'm waiting for him to become fucking relevant again which isn't going to happen because you handed me this garbage baby I never asked for with this fucking backroom damaged goods looking motherfucker that I almost liked until he fucking wifed me without my permission.
> 
> Like fucking HONESTLY, I thought FOR SURE we'd see Alexios in this goddamn chapter because the Tempest was _literally just him,_ but no go ahead and fucking. I just spent the whole main plot busting my ass for this family but apparently they're not good enough anymore and Kass needs to spend nine months baking a plot device _in the middle of a war she is actively apart of_. "But Marti, she's concerned about her legacy," Ubisoft pleads. Actually you know when the worst time to have a baby is? WHEN A CULT IS HUNTING DOWN YOUR BLOODLINE AND THAT OF THE GROSS ASS DUDE YOU JUST MET. THAT IS ACTUALLY THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME TO SPEND NINE MONTHS TRYING TO AVOID PHYSICAL COMBAT ONLY FOR THE GOAL TO BE TO PERPETUATE THAT BLOODLINE IN A LARGE PEANUT THAT CANNOT HOLD A SWORD.
> 
> Not to mention if y'all hadn't killed Phoibe for shock value, I mean there's a kid who never knew her parents, was abandoned, wanted to be like Kassandra, who we already cared about. How about a big "Phoibe is a Tainted One" reveal if you want us to be desperately concerned about a child. Hell, bring her back from the dead— maybe Sokrates never found Phoibe's body and never mentioned it to Kassandra because he didn't want her to be upset since you know, Cult of Ares are cannibals. But in reality she stood the fuck back up and left again, because she's Tainted an stronger than a regular child.
> 
> Anyway, in the continuation of ancient mythology, we now have Assassin's Creed: The Biological Imperative. Only I can't kill this one like they've let me kill the other ones.


End file.
